


Nighttime Friends

by roachprince



Series: kindness won't save anyone: asw inspired [1]
Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: Gen, OK SO the violence isnt THAT graphic but its violence alright, a guinea pig dies. im sorry, also theres DongJong if you squint, and WooGyu or GyuSoo depending on which direction youre squinting in, and the rape part is short and DEFINITELY not graphic but its mentioned so i put the warning there, i personally always squint into the gyusoo direction but u know, ok theyre all really messed up, they help each other cover up crimes. thats all thats the plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 08:38:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6847444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roachprince/pseuds/roachprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some friends you see every day,<br/>and some friends you see when there's blood in the air.<br/>You need both.<br/>(Your daytime friends are no help in the dark.)</p><p>They only meet when something bad happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nighttime Friends

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by and based loosely on [this ASW comic](http://softerworld.tumblr.com/post/90662939841/).  
> i thought i was gonna write this in german but i guess not?? so its the first non-translation work im posting here, aaa.  
> theres no real ship and not even a real ending to this, i just had to get it out of my system. ive been watching too much htgawm lately

They only really meet when something happens.

Myungsoo and Sungjong meet up for coffee now and then, but that’s it. Usually Sungjong and Dongwoo spend time with Howon, Sunggyu is glued to Woohyun like they’re joined at the hip and Myungsoo takes Sungyeol everywhere he goes. Almost everywhere.

They only really meet when something bad happens.

 

The first time Myungsoo remembers them being in their little constellation is when Sungjong accidentally drowns his guinea pig in the sink. They’re only ten years old and Myungsoo believes him when he says he didn’t know it couldn’t swim. (They’re older now and Myungsoo wonders if Sungjong never saw the animal struggle, or if it cried for help. He supposes it doesn’t matter anymore.) Sungjong calls his “older brother” even though Sunggyu isn’t actually related to him. He tells him his parents can’t know, or they’ll be mad. Sunggyu takes the dead pet in his hands and dries it off with a towel without batting an eye, then tells Sungjong and Myungsoo that he’s going to take it away and bury it somewhere, and that they need to tell Sungjong’s parents that they opened up the cage and the guinea pig escaped.

“But I’d never just open the cage like that, I’m not stupid,” Sungjong says.

Sunggyu gives him a hard look and deadpans, “Listen. You wanna cover something up, you’re gonna have to make sacrifices. If you think your parents won’t believe you, just tell them it was Myungsoo.”

Myungsoo doesn’t even have time to defend himself before Sunggyu turns and stalks off, a slightly damp dead guinea pig in the pouch of his hoodie.

The second time is a few months later, when Sunggyu shows up in Sungjong’s room while Myungsoo is there to visit, and they’re on Sungjong’s computer playing The Sims together as he closes the door behind him and drops a plastic bag on the desk. Inside the bag are a bunch of other plastic bags with stuff that Myungsoo does not yet recognize as drugs. They give Sunggyu a puzzled look and he responds with the same cold stare he had in the bathroom that day.

“My friend Dongwoo stole this,” he says. “Nobody can know. And nobody’s gonna look here. You’ll keep it for a little while, hide it in your room, I’ll come pick it up in a week or whatever. You owe me, Sungjong.”

Myungsoo’s eyes are wide and he turns to stare from Sunggyu to Sungjong, expecting him to protest, or to look as scared as he feels. But Sungjong just returns the dead-eyed gaze and nods without a word. He takes the plastic bag and slips it in the small space between his desk and his computer. Myungsoo thinks he can see a hint of pride on Sunggyu’s face as he turns to leave again.

He comes back two weeks later to pick up the bag, and he brings Dongwoo with him. Dongwoo is nice and warm and loud and not like Sunggyu at all, and the three of them get along well, much to Sunggyu’s annoyance. In the following months and years, Dongwoo still visits them sometimes, watches them turn into teenagers, watches them understand what that plastic bag behind Sungjong’s computer was. He shrugs it off as a phase, tells them he doesn’t do drugs anymore and never really did, only stole them for the kick. Sungjong later says to Myungsoo that Dongwoo doesn’t really seem like he _isn’t_ constantly on drugs, and Myungsoo doesn’t comment on the fascination evident in Sungjong’s voice.

 

Dongwoo and Sungjong still see Sunggyu sometimes, Myungsoo doesn’t. No, Myungsoo only sees him again when he’s in his final year of high school, when Sungjong texts him in the middle of the night to meet him and “the rest” in the empty parking lot near their school. Myungsoo doesn’t know who _the rest_ is until he gets there. Dongwoo’s there with an arm around Sungjong’s shoulders, looking determined, but also a little sick. Sungjong looks moderately pissed off, only shooting Myungsoo a quick glance upon arrival before focusing back on Sunggyu.

Sunggyu looks tense. Worse than usual. He’s shifting from one foot to the other, his coat wrapped tight around him, even though the air isn’t that cold. He fixes his gaze on Myungsoo, then grimaces, and talks to an empty spot somewhere behind them instead.

“Cops are gonna come to one of you guys,” he says, his voice raw. “I mean, I haven’t told them anything yet, but I’m gonna. They’re gonna ask where I was tonight, and one of you’s gonna tell them I was with him.”

“What did you do?” Sungjong asks promptly. Dongwoo looks like he wanted to ask the same question, but didn’t. He’s too nice. He has Sungjong to balance that out.

“Does that matter?”

“Shit, yeah, it matters? What the hell?”

Sungjong and Sunggyu stare at each other, and Myungsoo wonders why he’s here. Sunggyu takes a short, very controlled breath. “I got into a fight. Alright? I beat someone up, and I beat him up good, and he’s gonna come for me, so I need an alibi.”

Sungjong squints at him. “You don’t look like you got into a fight.”

“Yeah, well, he does.”

“Okay, guess you’re The Hulk then, or whatever. So why bring us here, why not just ask Dongwoo? We’re not even friends. Myungsoo doesn’t even really know you.”

“Dude,” Dongwoo says quietly. “Don’t be like that. You _are_ friends.”

Sungjong doesn’t reply to that (but looks a little defeated), so Sunggyu quickly goes on.

“You’re here because Dongwoo’s a shit actor.”

“Well, balls.” Sungjong shrugs. “I can’t act either.”

And now Myungsoo knows why he’s here. Suddenly all eyes are on him, and Sungjong sounds almost apologetic when he says, “Myungsoo isn’t bad, though.”

Myungsoo feels his heart rate pick up. His ears are warm, and Sunggyu’s watching him without even trying to hide it, and he’s thinking about how he doesn’t owe him anything. He really does barely know him, he could walk away. But Sungjong and Dongwoo know him, and they’re not walking. They’re here, and even if Sungjong acts like he doesn’t want to, it means they’re willing to help him. Myungsoo doesn’t trust anybody as much as he trusts Sungjong, and it still feels a little wrong, but _if you wanna cover something up, you’re gonna have to make sacrifices_. 

“Is that right?” Sunggyu asks. “Think you can do this?”

“What do you need me to say?” Myungsoo says, swallowing around the tightness in his throat.

There’s the hint of a smirk on Sunggyu’s lips, and the hint of something weird and not thoroughly unwelcome in Myungsoo’s stomach, and he takes a step towards him. “You were with me the entire evening. We’ll work out the specifics. We’ll say we met Dongwoo and Sungjong later this night, so they won’t even actually have to lie. The more witnesses I have, the better – but you and me, we’ve been together for hours, got it? You’ll have no idea why or how or when I could beat up a guy. For all you know, I’m a fucking angel. Cops are gonna think he’s just trying to pin it on me ‘cause he’s an asshole, all’s well.”

 

All is well.

Myungsoo can’t really believe it at first, but it works out. He actually gets to know Sunggyu a bit better through the whole deal, and realizes that behind the tough façade, he’s actually capable of showing gratitude once the police are off his back, and compassion. When it’s only the two of them he’s nice, and his voice is sweet and warm, and it puts that weird feeling back in Myungsoo’s stomach.

But Sunggyu is with Woohyun a lot, and that’s fine. Sungjong tells Myungsoo that Woohyun is a good guy and doesn’t know about the “shit they do”, much like Howon and Sungyeol. Sometimes Myungsoo catches himself thinking that Woohyun doesn’t know Sunggyu the way he does, but he discards the thought. He’s keeping Sunggyu as a good older friend who seems mature and like he has life all figured out already, who helps him study for his exams because he’s been there before, helps him fill out college applications.

Sungyeol doesn’t like him. Sungyeol also doesn’t like the boyfriend Myungsoo acquires during the summer, and maybe that should have been a warning sign, but Myungsoo just shrugs it off as Sungyeol being kind of an overbearing best friend.

 

Sungjong calls him at two in the morning, a week before college starts. He’s crying, and Myungsoo can barely understand him between the sobs. But he does understand, in the end. He’s hit someone with his car. He thinks they’re dead. He needs Myungsoo to call Sunggyu.

Myungsoo does. He doesn’t call an ambulance or 911, he calls Sunggyu, and tells him where Sungjong is and that he needs their help. He sneaks past his sleeping boyfriend and prays to god he’ll never find out, and Sunggyu picks him up a block away from the apartment. He asks how his boyfriend is doing and Myungsoo says Byungok is doing just fine. He doesn’t see Sunggyu gritting his teeth.

When they arrive in the poorly lit side alley, Sungjong doesn’t look like he cried at all anymore. He looks awake and composed and like he just finished shooting a skincare commercial, like always. Like he hasn’t cried once in his entire life. Myungsoo will keep his secret.

“Dongwoo?” Sunggyu just asks.

“I’m not sure he could deal with a dead body,” Sungjong says flatly, and Myungsoo shivers as he involuntarily looks down at the twisted bundle of limbs behind Sungjong’s car.

“Fair enough,” says Sunggyu, who doesn’t seem affected at all. Myungsoo vaguely remembers him stuffing a dead animal in his hoodie. “So you’re sure she’s dead?”

“She’s not breathing. Looks pretty dead to me.”

“Yeah, she does.” Sunggyu squats to take a closer look, while Myungsoo’s still standing a few feet away, watching warily as if he’s expecting the woman to come back to life and roundhouse kick them all to jail. “How’s your car?”

“It’s my dad’s car. But it’s fine, I think. I rinsed some blood off the rear with water. Not even dented, though, is it?”

Sungjong asks like he couldn’t just check himself, because he, too, is standing several feet away watching as Sunggyu runs a hand over the rear end of his father’s car. “Looks good. We’ll check again when the light’s better. For now, let’s put her in the trunk and drive her somewhere far away.”

That night, Myungsoo learns how heavy dead bodies are. He sees blood and dead, horrible eyes, and much, much later, he will think that maybe this is what caused it all. What helped him do it, only a few weeks later.

It’s Sunggyu who drives them, because he knows the way. Myungsoo knows it’s really because Sungjong’s hands are shaking too much to hold the wheel, so he lets them hold his instead on the backseat. They really do drive far away, and Sunggyu buys everything they need on the way, and then they burn the body together. Sunggyu drives them back home and Sungjong kisses Myungsoo on the cheek and Myungsoo hugs him as tight as he can and tells him it’s all going to be alright.

“I’m glad I’ve got you,” says Sungjong, both to him and to Sunggyu, who’s rubbing Sungjong’s shoulder like he doesn’t know where else to put his hands. Sungjong smiles. “I’m glad I drowned my guinea pig when I was ten.”

“You’re messed up”, Sunggyu says, and ruffles his hair, and sends them home.

Nobody has ever asked them about the dead woman in the side alley. Nobody ever will.

 

Myungsoo breathes steadily. His arms are shaking, his legs feeling like they’re just disappearing slowly. Byungok is lying on the floor behind the couch in the living room, chest still, eyes empty. Myungsoo has tried closing them, but he doesn’t want to touch his face.

He’s waiting.

_“Is there any blood?” Sunggyu asked._

_“There’s so much blood,” Myungsoo croaked out, barely clutching the phone to his ear. “Sunggyu, what do I–”_

_“Linoleum, right?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Good. Clean it up. It’ll be easy, you can do it. Clean up the floor, then clean up yourself, then put him somewhere out of sight for any neighbors or anyone that could look through the window.”_

_“Should I, like… Do I have to put him in the freezer?”_

_“No, Myungsoo. Freezer’s too small. Come on, focus. I’ll be there tonight, he won’t be a smelly decomposing bastard by then, not yet. Just put him somewhere safe, it’s fine. Then call Sungyeol to meet up.”_

_“But…”_

_“Let me finish. You haven’t seen Byungok since yesterday evening. He didn’t come home. You got that? He’s gone. You don’t know where he is, you’re worried. You tell Sungyeol that. Nobody’s gonna suspect you, okay? I’ll come help you later, and it’s all gonna be fine, I just need you to function right now. Clean up your mess, put the guy somewhere safe, then call your best friend.”_

He met up with Sungyeol and Woohyun. They talked about this and that, and Myungsoo mentioned that Byungok hadn’t come home from partying. Sungyeol didn’t bother hiding his bitter triumph when he said he probably went home with someone else because he’s a shitbag and Myungsoo deserves better. He and Woohyun did their best to cheer him up, and Myungsoo did his best to act like it was working. He didn’t feel like a real person.

He feels real now. Breathing and shaking and waiting for Sunggyu to knock on his door. Sunggyu, who doesn’t ask questions. Has not asked, and will not ask, why he did it or how it happened. Maybe Myungsoo will tell him in due time. Maybe, when he’s less ashamed of himself.

He’s not ashamed for killing his boyfriend. He’s sort of ashamed for not doing it sooner. Or just, not breaking up with him. He guesses that would have been the more reasonable approach.

But he just didn’t see it. Didn’t see what made Sungyeol scoff and curse, what made Sunggyu grit his teeth and Sungjong wrinkle his nose. He should have, but he didn’t. It took him an ugly morning of Byungok coming home and trying to force Myungsoo’s pants down against the kitchen counter to see it.

There were red flags. Of course there were, and of course he’s only realizing that now. The rough way he handled Myungsoo during sex, without ever asking him if he even liked that. The way his jaw clenched when Myungsoo so much as looked at other boys. The way he liked to tell him he was his and his alone, and tried to make it sound romantic. Byungok was bad, and he didn’t think Myungsoo would fight back.

But he did. And it feels good.

There’s a soft knock on the door, almost too soft for Sunggyu, and so Myungsoo isn’t entirely surprised when Sungjong is the first to shuffle inside the apartment and pull Myungsoo into one of the tightest hugs he’s ever gotten from him. He doesn’t say anything, and neither does Myungsoo. They just stand there and press close to each other, while Sunggyu closes the door and finds the body by himself. There’s a dull thud and Myungsoo idly wonders if he kicked Byungok’s corpse. He doesn’t particularly care.

“Dongwoo’s waiting outside,” Sungjong says, and catches Myungsoo’s alarmed stare with a shrug. “He wanted to help. He’s gonna drive us, he just doesn’t want to look at the body, but he really did want to help. He’s glad you, uh… got rid of the dude.”

“One of you could have told me he’s an asshole,” Myungsoo says quietly, as they approach Sunggyu.

“Oh wow, we tried, okay,” Sungjong begins, but Sunggyu cuts him off with a sharp glance and a shake of his head.

“Let’s not do this now,” he says calmly. “We need to wrap him in something before we carry him down to the car, in case someone sees us. We might even have to… I don’t know. I’m thinking garbage bags, you know, but he’s too big for a garbage bag.”

“He’s not too big for two garbage bags,” says Sungjong, and Myungsoo honestly wonders just how much he’s enjoying this.

“Yeah, that’s what I was getting at.” Sunggyu doesn’t seem all too bothered either. “Does he have any really sharp kitchen tools here? Or, like… A hatchet?”

Byungok does have a hatchet. One that helps them make him small enough for three garbage bags. They clean the blood off their faces and hands and carry his remains down to Dongwoo’s car, put him in the trunk before Dongwoo dares to turn and look at them, and squeezes Myungsoo’s hand. Sunggyu tells him where to drive. They dump and burn him where they dumped and burned the poor woman Sungjong cried over on the phone only a few weeks ago. This time, though, it feels right. Completely and utterly right.

“We’re all really fucked up,” says Sungjong. The fire smells terrible, but they have nowhere else to go. They’re waiting for Myungsoo to make the first move away from what’s left of Byungok.

“Yeah,” Myungsoo says quietly, “but you know, I really am glad you drowned your guinea pig that day. I’m glad Dongwoo stole drugs he wasn’t even taking, and I’m glad Sunggyu beat up a guy for looking at him weird.”

“Okay, that’s not why I did it, but I share the sentiment,” Sunggyu says, and they laugh. Even Dongwoo laughs, maybe it’s not his usual earsplitting roar of a laugh, but it’s a laugh alright. He puts an arm around Sungjong, and Sungjong in turn holds Myungsoo’s hand, and Sunggyu has an arm around Myungsoo’s shoulders, and it’s all okay somehow.

 

They all owe each other now, but that’s not why they’ll always keep helping each other out. It’s because they’re friends, weird, terrible friends with blood on their hands and secrets nobody else can know. Friends who only ever meet when it’s dark and the air smells like rust and fire and mistakes you keep making. They make those mistakes disappear, over and over again, because that’s what they’re there for.

Byungok’s death isn’t the last time they meet in their little group of four. Sometimes it takes weeks, months, or years even, until they see each other like this again, but sooner or later something always comes up. It’s not always as grave as a dismembered corpse and blood stains in Dongwoo’s car, but it’s always something. Something they need help for, and aren’t afraid to ask.

Myungsoo still meets up for coffee with Sungjong. Sometimes Dongwoo is with them, mostly it’s just the two of them. He still sees Sunggyu a lot. They talk about everything, sometimes even dead boyfriends and their hatchets. It’s good to not keep it inside all the time. Myungsoo loves Sungyeol, and Woohyun and Howon, they’re some of the best friends he’s ever had, but they don’t know. They can never know. And while it’s good and soothing to spend time with them and feel like a perfectly normal person, it’s even more soothing to know that when the darkness comes, his _other_ friends will be there.

When night falls, Myungsoo has nothing to worry about.

 

They only meet when something bad happens. And they always find a way.


End file.
